Writers are often asked – especially by other writers – how they found a literary agent.
These are the blog entries I wrote during the process. I didn’t log all the rejections because at the time I was trying to be positive, not dwelling on them. (I did keep a scarily efficient Excel spreadsheet though, with the ones who’d rejected being greyed out…)
But I did receive around 10 rejections – mainly of my first manuscript a technothriller.
Todd Garcia: Boy Archaeologist, the manuscript that eventually became ‘The Joshua Files’ had a slightly chequered past – it just failed to shortlist in a Waterstones/Faber competition (the WOW Factor), the full ms was requested and then rejected by a very well-known children’s publisher and also a top children’s literary agent.
And by my agent too, who took one look and sent me off to write something he might actually be able to sell…
My agent, by the way, is Peter Cox of Redhammer, pictured above (photo by John Buckman). Peter produces and hosts the Litopia Podcast about the publishing industry and runs Litopia, the online writer’s colony.
For the whole story about how I found a literary agent, read the entries below.
